Paper short abstract:

Even though the French authorities sided with the Bakufu regime, sending military mission in 1867, they still got asked for a second military mission by the new Japanese leaders in 1872. I will discuss the relation between these two missions and the role they played building the Japanese Army.

Paper long abstract:

France is known to have sided with the Bakufu regime, sending a Military mission in 1867 was a way to display that support. As such, when the Bakufu crumbled and let way to the new Meiji regime, the relation with France were strained, a strain that might have been accentuated by the role Jules Brunet played in the short lived Republic of Ezo (1869). Despite that, French authorities still got invited to send a second mission in 1872.

Even though the pro-French faction of the Japanese military officers, for example the Vice Minister of the Army, Ōmura Masujirō (1824-1869) weighed in the choice of a French mission, one should not overlook how pragmatic of a choice it was. For example, the fact that the 1867 mission began teaching French and that the teaching methods were based on the French language and on the French military system and philosophy meant that a change of model would need time and recourses which the new Japanese regime didn't have. Sticking with the French model even in face of the French defeat in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War, which impressed some Japanese officers, mainly Yamagata Aritomo, Katsura Tarō and Ōyama Iwao who in turn thought that the Prussian model was more suited, was a choice of reason.

During the period between the first and the second mission, French officers, notably Albert Charles du Bousquet (1837-1882), continued to advise the Japanese government on administrative reforms even though the 1867 military mission was sent back to France. Specifically, du Bousquet wrote a series of 14 documents on different administrative question for the Sa.in. The fifth volume is the one tackling military organization. As such he helped bridge the gap between the first and the second French military mission. All these cogs played a part in the process of the invitation of the French military mission in 1972.

The objective of my paper is twofold, show the process that led to the invitation of a second French mission and explain what role it played in the organizational reforms of the Japanese military.